It makes sense, considering the offensive line is the club's weakest link. But there are others who believe Warmack will be long gone by the time the Cowboys are on the clock, that he's destined to become the first guard to crack the top 10 since New Orleans selected Chris Naeole 10th in 1997.

“He's getting a lot of attention as a guy that is special and has been very good and successful,” said Tennessee Titans coach Mike Munchak, a Hall of Fame guard selected eighth overall by the Houston Oilers in 1982. “He knows how to win, so there are a lot of things he brings to the party.

“If you decide you need a guard, that's the kind of guy you're going to think about taking anywhere in the draft.”

One thing is certain: The team that selects Warmack will get a player who can be counted on to do things the right way, including taking rules about punctuality seriously. Four years of playing for coach Nick Saban made sure of that.

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“It's like a mini-NFL,” Warmack said of Saban's Crimson Tide last month at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“If you're not early, you're late. All I know is if (a meeting starts at) 10:30, I'm getting there at 9. That's just how we do it at Alabama.”

It's also how Dallas has done it under coach Jason Garrett, who counts Saban as a mentor. Warmack is set to visit Valley Ranch in April, something he enthusiastically confirmed during a recent interview with Dallas' KESN-FM.

“We are talking about America's Team,” Warmack said. “They have a lot of history, tradition ... just like Alabama.”

Another reason Warmack would love to play for the Cowboys: His NFL role model is Larry Allen, an offensive lineman who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in August after earning 10 Pro Bowl nods with the Cowboys.

“How can you not pay attention to a guy so exceptional?” Warmack said. “He's a freak of nature.”

That's a term that's never been applied to the Cowboys' current starting guards, Nate Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau. The pair disappointed after signing free-agent deals in 2012.

“Bernadeau's athletic ability didn't show at all,” owner Jerry Jones said last month.

That hasn't been a problem for Warmack, a consensus All-American in 2012 and a two-time national champion. After impressive showings at the combine and at Alabama's pro day Wednesday, his draft stock is soaring.

“I'm really not paying attention to the stock thing so much as just trying to improve myself as a player,” he said.

A three-year starter for the Crimson Tide, Warmack isn't the only guard who could wind up as a top-10 pick. There also has been plenty of buzz about North Carolina's Jonathan Cooper, increasing speculation that one of the two could be selected as high as Hall of Fame guard John Hannah, an Alabama great whom New England picked fourth in 1973.

Indeed, Kansas City coach Andy Reid, whose team owns the top pick, wouldn't rule out selecting Warmack or Cooper when asked about it at the combine.

“You go with the best player,” Reid said. “If the best player is a guard, you go with the guard. It's important you look at it that way. If you don't, that's where mistakes take place.”

Still, most analysts project Warmack as coming off the board between picks 10-20. ESPN's Mel Kiper and Todd McShay have Dallas selecting Warmack, although others say Munchak's Titans could grab him at No. 10.

“... This is the dream-come-true pick for the Cowboys,” McShay wrote. “Some have said Warmack is the best offensive lineman, regardless of position, in the entire draft. If he's there at 18, the Cowboys run to the podium.”